John Taylor (jazz)
John Richard Taylor ( born September 25, 1942 in Manchester ) is a British jazz pianist. He was, until the summer of 2007 Professor of Jazz Piano at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.
Career
The only formal instruction in John Taylor's life was his own words, a weekly piano lessons when he was ten years old. His father was a pianistic self-taught, his 15 year old sister a classical pianist, so he was from the beginning a lot with this instrument in contact. Bill Evans ' album exploration made him a great impression, as Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett later. Practical influence, however, had the jam sessions at Ronnie Scott 's Jazz Club, as he held an office job in London at the age of about 20 years.
Taylor's career as a professional jazz musician began in 1969 with the collaboration with the saxophonist John Surman and Alan Skidmore in particular, in the quintet he played until 1973. Subsequently, he served as accompanist to singer Cleo Laine and a member of the quintet of Ronnie Scott active. In 1977 he founded with Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler, the trio Azimuth, which grossed several albums and appeared in Europe, the USA and Canada.
In the 1980s he worked, inter alia, in bands led by Jan Garbarek, Enrico Rava, Gil Evans, Lee Konitz, Ron Mathewson and Charlie Mariano and in a duo with Tony Coe and Steve Arguelles. In the 1990s, he took on albums in a trio with Palle Danielsson and Peter Erskine. In 1996, he starred in John Surmans work Proverbs and songs the organ.
In 2000 he joined with the trio Azimuth at Weimar Festival and took the album Verso with Maria Pia De Vito and Ralph Towner on. Since 2002 he has worked in a trio with Joey Baron and Marc Johnson. For the composition The Green Man Suite, which was performed by the Creative Jazz Orchestra, he won the 2002 BBC Jazz Award for best new work.
In 2004 he took Where do we go from Here? on with Kenny Wheeler and Nightfall with Charlie Haden and kicked with both at the Montreal Jazz Festival. In the same year he formed a new trio with Palle Danielsson and Martin France. He also works in a duo with singer Diana Torto.
Discography (selection)
- Decipher, with Chris Laurence and Tony Levin, 1972
- Tango and Company, with Henning Berg, 1997
- Rosslyn, with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron, 2003
- Insight sketch solo album, 2003
- Songs & Variations, solo album, 2004
- Angel of the Presence, solo album, 2006
- Phases Solo Album 2009
- Patience, 2011 with Stéphane Kerecki